Life-preserver.



H. A. AYVAD.

LIFE PRESERVER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27. Hill.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

2% V H M Z A fw wh mm MH Fig. 2.

m: mum "I": 0. mam Anna, wnmmu w, u r.

HACHIG A AYVAD, OF EMPORIA, VIRGINIA.

LIFE-PRESERVER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. '7, 1919.

Application filed June 27, 1917. Serial No. 177,162.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HACHIG A AYvAo, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Emporia, in the county of Greenville and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Life-Preservers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a life preserver which is suitable for instant emergency use, which is of attractive design, and which is symmetrical and reversible and of such construction that there is no inverted or reversed way of wearing and that the method of using will be obvious. A further object is to provide a' life preserver which will readily conform to the body of the wearer and may be worn with comfort next to the body, and which has flexibility so as not to interfere with the bending of the body. A further object is to provide a form of construction by which the manufacture is facilitated, and good worlnnanship and smooth covering will be easy of attainment.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings which forms a part of this application- Figure 1 is a plan view of a life preserver in accordance with this invention, it being laid flat and the covering being broken away to show one of the buoyant shells.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the material cut for the cover.

Fig. 8 is alongitudinal section through one of the buoyant shells.

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing the form taken by the life preserver when on the body.

The life preserver depends for its buoyancy on two rows of cylindrical wooden shells, each consisting of a body-portion 5 with a cylindrical bore of uniform diameter and a cap 6 with a flange 7 which fits within the bore of the body portion. The cap is also hollowed out but to a slightly lesser diameter than the body portion so as to leave the flange thinner than the wall of the body portion which it fits into. This is so that the flange will not exert enough force in case of swelling to split the wall of the body-portion. The cap is sealed to the bodyportion with waterproof cement and the shell is coated with any suitable waterproofing material, as paint. The buoyant shells have hemispherical ends and are without sharp corners. They are contained in a bag 8 and being without sharp corners they will not cut or wear through the fabric of the bag. The bag is conveniently formed of a single length of cloth folded along two parallel longitudinal lines a-a so as to bring the selvage edges together along the middle line 6-4) of the bag. The manner of forming the bag, however, is immaterial, except that the opening is to be left along this middle line with the bag closed elsewhere. Rows of stitching c0, 0-0 are run transverse to the bag to divide it into rows of pockets 9, 9 on each side of the opening into the bag. Binding 10 is carried around as much of the margin of the bag as desirable and particularly over the edges where the cloth is Joined. The construction having been carried to this point, the shells are inserted through the middle opening and then tape 11 is laid on the opening and stitched to the bag with lines of stitching dd, (Zd along each edge and the middle. By providing for the closure here and covering with the tape a neat workmanlike finish is easily attained, which would not be the case if it were attempted to close the pockets at the upper and lower margins of the bag after the insertion of the shells. The tape is laid along both sides of the bag and extends beyond each end about half the length of the bag. The stitching unites the tape on the two sides together as well as to the bag. By reason of the tape being on each side of the life preserver the life preserver is reversible, and the wearer who may have to put it on at a time of excitement, need give no thought as to which side should be next to the body.

The life preserver is wrapped around the body, preferably so that the ends of the bag come together at the back. The ends of the tape are then brought to the front over the life preserver and tied.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A life preserver comprising a plurality of rows of buoyant shells and a bag formed with a plurality of rows of pockets in which the shells are contained with the rows of shells spaced apart, substantially as clescribed.

2. A life preserver comprising two rows of buoyant shells, a bag formed with two rows of pockets with openings between therows through which the shells may be inserted into the pockets, and a tape attached to the bag over the openings with ends of buoyant shells, a bag formed with two rows ofpockets in which the shells are contained With the rows of shells spaced apart, and tapes attached to both sides of the bag between the rows and extending beyond the 10 ends of the bag, substantially as described.

I l, A buoyant shell for a life preserver which consists of a body portion of absorbent material and a cap W1th a flange fitting within the body portion, the flange being of lesser thickness than the Wall of the body portion with which it engages, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 25th day of June 1917.

HACHIG A AYVAD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. G. 

